Streaming of video content remains a complex and difficult technical challenge. From locating videos, to head-end storage of video content, to the delivery of the requested videos, all aspects of the video streaming system must be carefully designed and implemented. The complex delivery problem is further complicated when multiple videos may be of interest to the requester or to a viewer. Again, careful techniques and algorithms must be developed in order for proper searching and for content delivery to be efficient, timely, and effective. Complex software and hardware systems are required to implement a video collection and delivery system. In such a system, the software may be stored and executed on a variety of processors.
The following challenging steps may be included in a complex, user-driven, video content delivery system. For example, one difficulty might be to effectively and efficiently locate video content on the web. A search might be fine-tuned through a variety of means to make the search more efficient and targeted toward content of interest. Another significant challenge might be the storage of the video content or information about the video content so that it can be located, retrieved quickly, and used for further analysis. Further, delivering content, both video and audio, within the context of network bandwidth limitations can be cumbersome and have its own logistical challenges. The presentation of video and its associated audio track may be problematic given buffering requirements in order to ensure no gaps in the playback. Networks and their distributed hardware have been designed so that disparate data packets can be distributed far and wide but these packets must be properly reassembled so a viewer can enjoy the video in a high quality viewing environment without thinking about the technical details. Indeed, a viewer often has neither technical understanding nor desire to understand the underlying technology. In all, the various steps must be carefully designed and executed in order to implement an effective video delivery system.